Sep 19, 2023

Michelle Hamilton's entire HR career has been about learning — and about learning to do things differently . Now the director of people and talent at InStride, an education technology startup , Hamilton learned the ropes of HR at organizations including Dollar Shave Club and Paramount. These large and fast-growing companies gave her a robust toolkit of skills, and also served as inspiration to help her build even better systems. "My first two companies had a very traditional HR hierarchy," says Hamilton, who joined InStride in 2019. "They were very much used to doing HR as HR needed to be done. It was compliance-based and tactical, and they really taught me what standards look like — and how to really build something that scales." Under Hamilton's leadership, InStride's team has more than tripled in three years, from 35 to 165 people. As the company works to scale, Hamilton is focused on creating stronger, more streamlined channels between leadership and employees on the ground. It's an unexpected perk of working at a smaller company, she says; there's value in grassroots growth. In 2023, Hamilton spearheaded InStride Together, a new DEI initiative where employees can come up with ideas on how to improve company culture through conversations, feedback and engagement surveys. While at first she said the group felt a bit like a "band-aid" – a temporary fix to a lack of community — it ended up making a crucial impact. "It really made a big difference to our culture," says Hamilton. "Especially considering that we started off hybrid. In order to keep company culture alive, it needs to come from our employees." One of InStride's hallmark benefits has been Step Forward, an educational assistance program that offers free tuition to employees. Employees are able to select one of InStride's partners, such as Arizona State or the City University of New York, to participate in an in-person or digital program. InStride even has their own digital platform, the Professional Learning and Achievement Navigator, to help guide employees in their educational journey and discover new areas of interest. Only 4% of U.S. companies offer this type of up-front tuition payment; Hamilton's goal is to have 100% of their employees participate. "That's been at the core of InStride since my time, being able to provide our services and our solutions to our families," she says. "They can get anything from their high school diploma to higher education." Through her efforts, additional policies like wellness days and backup child care solidify the message that people come first, Hamilton says. With the right people, she says, a strong culture follows. "The core of InStride is the people we hire, not just what we tell people we are," she says. "When they live by the values that we have proposed, it just makes me happy."